Defense: Shinigami
by SilverFlameoftheWindScar
Summary: Sequel to Defense. Akuji doesn't hide himself too well after Renji runs into the house about a Hollow Signal. Hitsugaya and his patrol party for Karakura Town see Akuji when Ichigo stepps into his room. Ichihichi


Defense: Shinigami

One-shot

DISCLAIMER: As the prequel, anything you see that isn't in the anime or manga, Bleach, is mine; ex. Ichigo's Hollow's name Akuji Apollo.

Here goes the sequel to Defense, if you couldn't tell by the title. Ignoring Bounto Arc! _**REPEAT! IGNORING BOUNTO ARC!**_ Very slight tie in with the concept of my other story "Trust".

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Ichigo was happily eating a serving of his little sister's wonderful beef roast with a bowl of rice while Akuji poked at a potato, then a carrot, then a chunk of the beef before following his Shinigami half's example and trying to use the chopsticks. "Can't I just use my fingers?"

"No! That's not proper table manners!" Yuzu scolded, accepting the Hollow as if he were already part of the family, which, she supposed, he was.

"I don't even know what half this stuff _is_ and you expect me to know how to _eat_ it?" Akuji questioned, his eyes widening when a wok came flying at him. "Ichigo! Stop your sister! She's gonna kill me! OW!" he shouted the last part when the human stabbed him with the chopsticks. Ichigo stared at him blankly. "Help me!"

Ichigo smiled softly. "Here," he said, taking his Hollow half's hand and forming it to the chopsticks. "Beef is good for you; it gives you energy. Potatoes…well…I don't know what they're for but there good for you, too. And carrots help keep your eyesight strong. Rice is…well…I don't know what it's good for either but it is." Akuji only nodded with a blank face. Deciding to see if he liked it before getting it, Ichigo picked up a bit of his in his chopsticks and held it out to the Hollow. "Here; try it. If you don't like it, you don't have to eat it."

Gulping, Akuji looked as if it would attack him before actually allowing Ichigo to put it in his mouth. "Mmm! That _is_ good! Damn, Yuzu, you sure can cook!"

"How sweet… Now you're feeding each other," Karin said in a monotone with her eyes in their normal half-lidded way. She could hear her older brother grinding his teeth together from across the kitchen. "If you're going to be doing that, go up to Ichigo's room."

"Don't mind if I do," Akuji said with a grin, making him look quite insane, as he finished his plate of beef roast and bowl of rice. His eyes shown golden in mirth when Ichigo spluttered, spitting rice everywhere while his face turned beet red. "Geez, Ichigo, don't die on me here," he joked, patting the teen's back as the Kurosaki son choked. He reached over the table to get Ichigo's glass and handed it to him. After a huge gulp from his glass, Ichigo breathed easier, literally. "We don't need you becoming a Shinigami _permanently_ just yet. Quit being so serious, King."

"I thought I told you to stop calling me that?" he asked, getting a shrug from his Hollow. "Renji!" he suddenly exclaimed, causing Akuji to curse vulgarly for a few moments before disappearing.

"Ichigo! There was a Hollow here!" Renji said as he busted into the house. "What happened to it…? The signal is…gone?"

"I think your Spirit Mobile is on the fritz, Renji," Ichigo answered, sighing. "And they wonder why I never wanted one?"

"This is tied directly to my reiatsu, smartass! It doesn't…go on the…_fritz_, whatever that means!" Renji replied, shaking the phone at him insistently. Ichigo only waved his hand in a dismissing manner with his usual scowling eyebrows. "Don't… Ooo…I'm gonna…."

"You can't do anything while I'm in my body, moron. You'll be harming a human, which is direct violation of Shinigami Duties, book five, article seven, paragraph three, sentence nine," Ichigo said, effectively cutting the redheaded Lieutenant of Squad Six off. The orange-haired teen stared in boredom at Renji before a grin stretched over his face and he busted with laughter at the blank look the other was giving him. "It was a joke, nutwad! Rukia's name, not mine."

"You're only saying that so I won't kick your ass, bastard!"

"You couldn't hit the broad side of a barn."

"I can hit you just fine, or do you not remember the battle in Soul Society when I sliced and diced you?!"

"That's the thing here on Earth we call _luck_, Renji," Ichigo replied, standing as his father came barreling into the kitchen with intentions to maim his son, as usual. The Kurosaki teen lifted his foot, planting it square in the middle of his father's chest to hold him back. "Gotta be swifter, old man," he said to his father, standing on one foot as he turned back to Renji. "Hey…anyone home?"

"C-C-Captain Kurosaki! We all thought you were dead! Captain Zaraki killed you!" Renji said, awe on his features and in his voice. "_You_ are Captain Kurosaki's son?!" he shouted at Ichigo.

"Uh…yeah. The last name kinda sounds the same, right?" Ichigo replied, scratching the side of his head. "Wait a sec… You were beat by Kenpachi?" he asked his dad, who nodded. "I beat him…nearly died, but I beat him. His sword pierced through Zangetsu and stabbed me right _here_," he said, pointing to the right side of his chest, beside his heart. "But Zangetsu kept me from bleeding, though I still got stabbed _here_," the tip of his thumb touched where his heart was, "and slashed outward to the left. Hurt like hell, too, but I don't really remember it. Though I collapsed before he did, he still says I won and wants a rematch."

"You beat the Shinigami I couldn't…and he doesn't even know the name of his sword…" Isshin said, astonished.

"And I didn't even _know_ about Bankai. He just doesn't seal his sword, though hearing its cries because he doesn't trust it… I wouldn't be able to stand it if Zangetsu and I couldn't trust each other…" Ichigo shuddered, lowering his foot from his father, who grabbed said foot and tossed him across the kitchen. Ichigo came storming back in, initiating the second father-son brawl of the day as, again, they clobbered each other.

"No wonder Ichigo's so strong… Look at who his dad is!" Renji said to himself. "Well…um…Ichigo's sister?" he directed to the brown haired one.

"Yuzu," she supplied.

"Right, Yuzu; if you wouldn't mind, could you tell Ichigo that we'll be seeing him later?" She nodded. "Thanks, see ya," with that, he left out of the house part of the clinic and Yuzu went back to anything she found to clean.

Ichigo sent his dad flying through the living room to land in front of his mother's picture. He gazed at her smiling face and his eyes softened with a small, upward curve of his lips. "I'm going to bed," he declared to his father before heading up the stairs to his room. Closing the door, his Hollow had half-materialized then disappeared before they realized they had company. _"Oh shit…"_

_"Took the words right out of my mouth,"_ Akuji sent in reply as Toshiro, Rangiku, Renji, Yumichika, and Ikkaku all stared at the spot behind their fellow Shinigami.

"Is there something on my face?! Stop staring at me!" Ichigo shouted, a scowl to rival all of his others planted for his expression. He stalked over to his bed and flopped down on it, nearly kicking Renji on purpose. "So, what's with the extra house call?"

"There was a monstrous Hollow, and we could've used your help fighting it," Toshiro answered. "Where were you, Kurosaki?"

"Think about my last name and put a 'Captain' in front of it," he replied. "Dad took a notion to have a Shinigami brawl. Said something about wanting to test me," he explained. "So, while in the middle of fighting a Captain level Shinigami without being able to use Bankai, _at all_, you expected me to help you duke it out against a Hollow with you?" He opened one eye, much like Captain Hitsugaya, and stared at each of them in turn.

"Well…when you put it that way…" Ikkaku mumbled, scratching the back of his shining head.

"I don't care, Kurosaki. Defeating Hollows and protecting Human Souls are first and foremost on your duties as a Shinigami," the Tenth Squad Captain said after Ikkaku trailed off. "Next time, I want you to be there."

"And what makes you think you can tell me what to do?" Ichigo asked, as he propped one leg up and, sitting up, laid his elbow on his knee.

"All Shinigami in the Thirteen Court Guard, excluding the General-Commander and fellow Captains, must obey any Captain unless the Shinigami's Squad Captain is present to revoke the order," Toshiro answered, his eyes narrowing.

"You know something? I like you, _Captain_, but I've never been in the Thirteen. I became a Shinigami for the sole purpose to protect those who need me to. My family comes first, then my friends, _then_ everyone else, and, last, as it should be, myself. I was never under anyone's command. I only done what Rukia said because, by doing it, I was preventing people from getting hurt," Ichigo replied as a blue tint entered his eyes, despite the fact that he was in his body. "I help because I _want_ to help, not because I _have_ to."

_"Couldn't have said it better myself. Heh, that's why you're the King, Ichigo,"_ Akuji said to him and received a mental smile with a little extra sunshine in his inner world. _"Wonderful! I can see the sun!"_

_"If you make me laugh, I'm going to come in there and hurt you severely,"_ the brown-eyed teen replied. "Do you understand now, Toshiro? Rukia asked me the _exact, same thing._ She asked, 'Are you prepared to dedicate yourself to protecting the innocent?' My answer, 'I protect the innocent because I want to.' She didn't like it, but she accepted it."

"If that is how you feel, then I can say nothing. You made a valid point. Hmm…a rogue Shinigami," Captain Hitsugaya answered.

"Now, that hurts. I'm not a rogue. I don't go around ignoring everyone and doing my own thing. I'll listen if it's something that'll help," Ichigo replied with a grin. "So…the only reason you came by was to see why I didn't show up?"

"What was with the Hollow signal that faded as soon as Renji arrived?" Rangiku asked, crossing her arms.

"You haven't got a stowaway, have you, Ichigo?" Yumichika asked with a smirk. "Also, don't forget the _ghostly form_ that appeared behind you just a few minutes ago. If there was a ghost or a Hollow here, we would be able to see it."

"What are you hiding, Ichigo?" Renji asked bluntly, his gaze hard as he stared at his, despite all fights and arguments, friend.

_"What now?!"_ On the inside, a thunderstorm was starting to roar in his inner world, but on the outside, he only raised an eyebrow. "I have no idea what you're going on about."

"We know you can't detect reiatsu to save a life, but you would feel something if a Hollow was here! You'd be feeling threatened or like you're being watched!" Renji exploded with a growl.

"Abarai," Hitsugaya said with a stern voice. "You do know, Kurosaki. I noticed your eyes shift slightly. You just aren't helping us." He stepped over to the teen and pulled him forward by the front of his shirt. "Why are you hiding a Hollow?!"

"Tch," he scoffed. "I'm not hiding anything. How can I? I can't mask reiatsu. If there was a Hollow _here_, you would be able to sense it…unless you're losing your heads." A sudden depression in the bed behind him surprised him and, if the dropping of his shirt and everyone's expressions were any indication, the others, too. He recognized the arms wrapping around him. _"Akuji, what the hell are you _doing_? They'll-"_

_"I have you in my arms, Ichigo. They're not going to do anything in the possibility that I hurt you. After all, they don't want to lose their second most-powerful fighter,"_ Akuji answered, having already thought ahead. "Was it little ol' me you were asking about?" he wondered in his distorted voice, a grin on his face.

"Get read-"

"Ah, ah… I wouldn't do that if I were you. We don't want Ichigo to have a scarred face," Akuji said, cutting off the Captain as he lifted his nails to his other half's face. He trailed them lightly over the teen's cheek then his neck, and Ichigo relaxed against him. _"I'm glad _you_ know I'm not gonna hurt you,"_ he sent, not missing the ghostly smile on his other's face.

_Why is he so relaxed?! That's a Hollow! But…it doesn't have a hole in it's chest…or anywhere for that matter. What is this?_ Rangiku wondered, noticing the distinct similarities between them. "Ichigo…is he…_your_ Hollow?" she asked.

A smile stretched across Ichigo's face as he answered, "At least one of you figured it out. And yeah, we've fought before-"

"Ichigo," Akuji cut him off. "Hollows," he added, handing the Shinigami amulet to the Kurosaki male. Once in his soul form, Akuji lay his body along the bed. _"Going at it alone?"_

_"Nah, let's give them something to remember. You want it?"_ The Hollow grinned, vanishing before Ichigo jumped out of the window. _"The high concentration of reiatsu drew them here. I've never seen two Hollows working together, much less five."_ He closed his eyes, waking in his inner world. _"Be careful,"_ he sent to his other as he lay down to watch the sky.

When Hitsugaya and his Shinigami patrol landed, Ichigo had his head bowed. "Ichigo…what are you-" he was saying before an eerie scream came from Ichigo as half of a Hollow Mask formed on the left side of his face.

"We have some ugly guests, don't we, Yumichika?" Akuji asked, lifting Zangetsu from his back and balancing it on his shoulder.

"Yes, I would have to agree," the Tenth Squad Shinigami replied, taking a liking to Ichigo's Hollow half instantly.

"You are our brethren… Why do you fight us?" the Hollow in the middle of the five asked, his hulking form easily proclaiming him the leader.

"Pft… I'm disgusted just looking at you, much less being related to you.," he answered. "I'd rather erase scum like you then have you attack defenseless humans." Akuji spun the hilt wrap of Zangetsu until the blade was whirling in the air beside him, sending sparks flying each time it touched the pavement. "Ready to die?" With that question, he leapt forward, cleaving the first Hollow he came to in half.

"I…don't think he needs help," Ikkaku mumbled, his eyes wide.

"His fighting is truly beautiful…" Yumichika said with stars in his eyes, watching as Akuji gracefully yet unpredictably assaulted the remainder of their enemies. "He fully loves battle. Ichigo could learn from him."

"I'm just glad he's on our side," Renji said, his eyes as wide as Ikkaku's.

"Oh no!" Rangiku lifted her hands to her mouth when Akuji was struck by the last and leading Hollow. She realized that she needn't have worried when another scream echoed from him. A flash-step later and the Hollow was transformed into a bloody pulp before it faded as Akuji stood behind it.

Akuji jumped up to Ichigo's bedroom window before switching with Ichigo then appearing behind him. "That was _fun_. It felt good to fight again," he said to his Shinigami half. "You should let me fight more often."

"I could," Ichigo replied as he leaned against the Whole Hollow. "The others aren't going to be shocked much longer…" he trailed off as his other half kissed him. The cool lips against his comforted his frayed nerves easily. "Thanks. I needed that," he said before merging with his body.

"I'll see you later, Ichigo. Keep the Shinigami quiet," Akuji requested, kissing him again before vanishing.

"What the hell was that!?" Renji's voice, loud in his attitude, busted through the window. Following his voice was the redheaded fighter. "Was that your Hollow?"

Ichigo nodded, yawning widely. "Damn…I didn't even fight and I'm tired…" He sat up, shaking his head slightly to try to wake himself up. "I'm only gonna say this once: _don't. Tell. Anyone._ All right? Not Yamamoto, not Byakuya, not Kenpachi, not Rukia… Hell, don't even tell yourselves! If only to keep this as an ace up my sleeve for when Aizen crawls out of his hole, don't tell anyone."

"Good idea, Kurosaki. For all we know, there is a spy relaying information to Aizen," Toshiro complimented. "Maybe you have half a mind after all."

"The other half's asleep," Ichigo replied. "Uh…can we continue this at another time? Unlike you, I have a social life to uphold or people will get suspicious and we'll have idiots like Keigo running around spouting rumors about how the aliens on Planet Foowah captured me to make me their king." _"Pun intended, Akuji."_

"Orihime is rubbing off on you, Ichigo," Rangiku said. "We really should leave you to your sleep. After all, you're only human."

"But a damn powerful one. See ya," he responded as they all left through his window. He closed the window and locked it, pulled the curtains shut, then gave his door the same treatment as the window. After turning the light off, he sat down on his bed but immediately fell backwards. "Akuji…" he mumbled when pale arms circled around him.

"Sleep, Ichigo. I'm staying here instead of going to your world. I don't want to get rained on," the Hollow said, but the one he was speaking to had fallen asleep already. Pursing his lips for a moment, he smiled and tightened his arms, pulling Ichigo's back against his chest. "Rest well," he murmured before falling asleep himself.

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The next morning found Ichigo waking up to his alarm clock and to see Akuji with a bruise on his cheek. "Wha-at happened to you?" he asked, yawning through the first word.

"It seems your nightmares can get volatile, Ichigo," the Hollow growled, gingerly touching the blackened skin. "Stop staring! I know that I'm different! I _bleed_ black if you hadn't noticed yet!" he added, still growling, when Ichigo raised his eyebrow at the black bruise.

The human teen leaned up, gently pressing his lips to the bruise. "When one of us would skin our knees, hands, elbows, or accidentally hurt ourselves, Mom would always kiss it, and it would feel better," he explained, smiling softly at the thought of his mother.

Akuji grinned at him. "It does," he admitted before leaning over to kiss his other's lips quickly. "You've got school to get ready for Ichigo, and, if you don't hurry, you're gonna be late," he said, nuzzling the teen's neck. Leaning over, he lightly bit Ichigo's shoulder around the strap of his tanktop. "My strawberry," he said with a laugh after licking away the blood that spilled from the bite of his fangs. _Wife-beaters are wonderful shirts,_ he thought to himself.

"My Hollow," the punned high-school student replied fondly, kissing the pale-skinned clone before going to shower. Seven minutes later, Ichigo walked back into the room with a school uniform on and a damp towel on his damp hair, trying to scrub it as dry as he could.

"It _still_ amazes me at how brainless you can be, Ichigo. And _you_ are supposed to be the King? Sheesh…" Akuji walked over, snatched the towel from the eldest Kurosaki then lightly smacked him with it. "It's wet, dumbass," he said, holding the fabric up. "What good is a _wet_ towel going to do for _wet_ hair?" Ichigo only shrugged before shaking his head back and forth, flinging water everywhere. "You needed the shower, not me…"

"Ah well, that one's free of charge," the Shinigami half of the duo replied with a grin. The Hollow growled and jumped at Ichigo, knocking him against the wall and planting his forearms against the wall on either side of the fifteen-year-old's head. "Then again…maybe it's not free…" he corrected himself before grabbing a fistful of the Hollow's pure-white shihaksho and pulling him forward. After what to normal people would be a harsh kiss, Ichigo pressed another to the still-bruised cheek. "You might want to heal that or old man Zangetsu will think I've been abusing you."

"Tch… That'll take a snowball's chance in Hell, Ichigo," Akuji retorted before vanishing. _"I think I'll make myself comfortable here for a while. I don't want your dad going nuts on me again."_

"_Heh, stay as long as you like, just don't make me laugh in the middle of class…or bang my head against the desk. That hurt last time,"_ Ichigo replied as he walked down the stairs, stole a piece of toast, dodged his father's 'good morning' fight lesson, one-arm hugged Karin, kissed the top of Yuzu's head, chugged a glass of juice, and skirted by his father out of the door. _"It was too easy to get out of there… Dad's gonna ambush me."_

"_Want me to stop him?"_ Ichigo shook his head, knowing Akuji would somehow know he did. _"Eh, suit yourself, King."_

"_Aw, don't get like that, Akuji! I didn't mean anything by it!"_ He only heard a snort in response, making him sigh. _"I… Sorry…" _No response. Another sigh. _"Fine,"_ he sent softly, sadly. He walked into the school grounds soon with no confrontation with his father. Sitting at his desk, he hung his bag on the hook on the side then placed his head on his arms.

"I-CHI-GO!" a voice carried to him and he knew who it was instantly. "How was your summer? I heard you were visiting with some family? Where did you go? Did you have fun? Why didn't you take me?!"

"Keigo… Shut up," was the answer before the questioned plopped his face back into the little square his arms made.

"Hey Ichigo, what's up? Was your summer all right?" Ichigo looked up to see a purple-haired girl. His scowl softened to more of a frown. Tatsuki had been there for him when his mother died, and he figured he'd never be able to repay her for that. "Ichigo?"

"Eh? Yeah, it was fine. How about you?" he asked in reply.

"It was good, but not as productive as yours seemed to have been. You look like you've put on a whole military's worth of muscle!" Her answer got a propped eyebrow of him. "No, Ichigo, I do _not_ think of you like that and you know it." He sighed thankfully. "I was just noticing. We're going to have to spar again some time so I can see just how much use you can put it to."

He grinned a little, though it looked more like a sick frown with a scrunched nose. "Anytime, Tatsuki." She nodded before walking toward Orihime and booting Chizuru across the room into the chalkboard. _"Are you going to speak to me yet?"_ No answer. He sighed sorrowfully, casting his eyes out of the window and, again, ignoring Keigo to the best of his abilities. Aforementioned abilities had improved to a steel wall because of the annoyance known as 'Keigo,' though Ichigo knew he was a good friend, so he answered the fellow high-school student's questions. "I didn't take you, Keigo, because only _I_, from my dad and sisters, went. Yes, I did have fun. No, I'm not telling you where. And my summer wasn't as nice as it could've been."

"What's wrong, Ichigo? You seem grumpier than normal," another boy, Mizuiro, asked as Keigo went around giving his summer greetings.

Ichigo stood and stepped over to the window. "I'm fine, Mizuiro. Thanks for asking," he answered, leaning against the windowsill. _Dammit! What ticked Akuji off so much?!_ he yelled in his mind as he gritted his teeth and punched the wall. Sighing, he ignored the blood splatter that was now on the wall in the shape of his knuckles as his hand dripped blood beside him. He remembered back to when he didn't want Akuji to stop his father from pulling off another pseudo-karate move. "It's because I didn't trust him…" he whispered.

"_Hole in one, there, King! Took you long enough,"_ was Akuji's response.

Ichigo sighed with a small smile._ "But I really _do_ trust you, Akuji! I trust you with not only my life, but the lives of my family and friends! I trust you with everything that I am! If there was anything else I could trust to you, I would!"_ Affection flittered across their mindlink._ "Please believe me, Akuji…"_

"_I do, Ichigo… I've trusted everything I have to you since the first time we fought and you won…"_

"_I don't deserve such blind faith, Akuji,"_ Ichigo responded, leaning back on the windowsill. _"If I couldn't trust you when I gave you all I have… You shouldn't trust me so much…"_

"_But I do, Ichigo, and that's what matters. You trust me with the same conviction, right?"_ A genuine smile came to Ichigo's face, shocking those near him almost to death. Akuji accepted the silent affirmation.

There was a peaceful moment in Ichigo's mindscape before a redheaded, school-uniformed man with tattoos landed on the window in front of him. "RENJI!" he shouted at the top of his lungs. "USE THE DAMN DOOR LIKE NORMAL PEOPLE!!" He pulled the man inside the classroom. "It's no wonder Rukia told me to keep an eye on you!"

"Shut up, Ichigo! I came here for-" The bell to signal class cut the Shinigami in Gigai off. Renji jumped a foot in the air. "What the hell was that!?"

"You must be one of the new ones and the first thing I'm going to tell you is to watch your language!" the teacher said as she walked into the room.

"Yes, ma'am. Renji Abarai, cousin to Kurosaki," he mumbled after she motioned to the front of the room and he walked up there, glad he remembered what Urahara had told him.

"This, class, is Renji Abarai. He's a transfer student and will be seated beside his cousin, Ichigo Kurosaki," the woman said, missing the electric sparks passing between the two Lieutenant of the Sixth Squad and the second most powerful person on the side of the Soul Society. "Just remember not to get anymore tattoos, Mr. Abarai. As you already have them, we can say nothing, but others will not be permitted while in attendance with this-"

"What the hell?!" Ichigo shouted, jumping a desk to get to the window. He looked back a Renji, ignoring his teacher and classmates, and nodded toward the glass. The man came over to the window then gulped. "Uh… BATHROOM!" Ichigo shouted before racing from the window and out of the room.

"Uh…me too!" Renji added then dashed out, following his 'cousin'.

"KUROSAKI! ABARAI!" the teacher shouted, raising her fist irritatingly.

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End of the second installment of Defense. …Seriously.

Well, the next one should be out eventually. I couldn't help but put Renji in the class with Ichigo. The little spat between Akuji and Ichigo was hard to put up with! –weeps softly-

-says to Ichigo and Akuji- I'm so sorry for making you two have a fight!

Okay, I'm gonna ask nicely… Or, rather, Akuji is.

_**Akuji**_-raises Tensa Zangetsu- REVIEW OR FACE DEATH BY-

_**Ichigo:**_Just tell them to review already, you crazy Hollow!

_**Akuji:**_ POBODY'S NERFECT, KING!

_**Ichigo:**_ Ah shit. Just review, would ya?


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